


Serve

by Philiesophy



Category: One Piece
Genre: Angst, Canonical Character Death, M/M, One Piece Reverse Bang 2016, Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net, anyways yeah vergo dies like in canon, idk angst just happens i guess????, reposted because it should be online again, this is just highly indulgent verdofla stuff, verdofla
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-19
Updated: 2020-06-20
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:41:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,209
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24813226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Philiesophy/pseuds/Philiesophy
Summary: (Repost from Fanfiction.NET. Originally written for the OP reverse bang 2016 from Tumblr).[Vergo serves Doflamingo. He always has, he always will.]
Relationships: Donquixote Doflamingo/Vergo
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> So this is a repost from fanfiction.net. The original on ff was deleted alongside my account, but I'm putting this up again to have it somewhere. This was written for the OP reverse bang 2016 on Tumblr, where an artist and writer team up. This story was written based on the image of georginoschkavincen (tumblr). You can find it here: https://georginoschkavincen.tumblr.com/post/150676585625/my-first-op-reverse-bang-2016-pic-it-is-for-the.

The ship was peacefully swaying along to the rhythm of the waves crashing against the bottom of it, wind softly blowing but not enough for the main sail to be furled. Hidden at the shore of the island, it was showered in moonlight, giving off a rather chilly vibe. But to Vergo, it was anything but creepy. It was _home_.

He calmly made his way up to the deck, his bag loosely hanging over his shoulder as he reached the door towards the inner parts of the ship, slightly raising his eyebrow. Even though their ship was usually pretty well hidden, there was always at least one Executive on deck to guard it. Yet today there wasn’t. Not to mention that Doflamingo himself wasn’t waiting for him, which was even odder, knowing that he had called the blond a week ago to announce his arrival.

However, that thought was quickly pushed to the back of his mind. Doflamingo was a _king_ , after all and their captain so he probably had more urgent business to take care off and Vergo wouldn’t utter his selfish thoughts out loud.

Once inside the raven made his way to Doflamingo’s room, only to find Pica standing outside.

“ **P** ica… What is going on?”

“ **D** offy is wounded.”

Blood freezing, Vergo swore he could hear his own heartbeat in his ears as he slammed the door open with more force than necessary.

The stench of blood hit him right into his face as his eyes adjusted to the dim light inside the cabin. He spotted the sleeping silhouette of Doflamingo and he rushed closer, throat filling up with worry until he nearly choked as he crouched down at the bedside, hand instinctively reaching for Doflamingo’s, though hesitant to actually touch him.

Doflamingo was half-naked, his entire chest bandaged with here and there a bit of blood seeping out. His sunglasses were still present, which meant someone else had brought Doflamingo here and treated his injuries.

“ **D** offy-?”

The only answer he received was a groan as the body in front of him started moving: _slowly_ and _hurt_.

“ **V** -Vergo… You’re back already? Shit,” the blond cursed as he tried to sit up straighter, though an immense sharp sting forced him to stay down, heavy breathing and groaning.

“ **D** on’t stress yourself,” the raven calmly stated as he stood up straight, legs tightly pressed together and back straight – _perfect soldier, perfect subordinate, why hadn’t he been there–_ , taking a deep breath before uttering the dreaded question.

“ **W** hat happened?”

Doflamingo chuckled, ignoring the smaller pain waves rushing over him as he lazily moved his hand.

“ **N** othing big, we got caught in an ambush, that’s all… Fufufu, we sure took out a lot of marines. But then one of them sneaked up on me… I guess I was a bit careless, that’s all.”

The blond turned his head towards, his friend, eye squinting behind the sunglasses: “ **D** on’t put that expression on your face… Vergo.”

He immediately received a nod as an answer as the worry seeped out of his friend’s face and instead was replaced with his neutral and stern expression.

“ **I** t’s good to get hurt sometime… Makes you feel alive.”

“ **D** efinitely true.”

“ **A** nd you know, we beat them so no one will know.”

“ **T** hat’s good.”

“ **A** nd the family is safe.”

“ **A** s expected of you, Doffy. You truly-…”

“ **W** hat is wrong with you?!” Doflamingo growled as his chest shook from the impact. Fists clenched, nails digging into his palms and teeth gnashing until they hurt, he glared at his friend.

“ **W** hy are you just agreeing to everything?! You know! You should’ve been there! But guess what? You weren’t!”

Immediately after uttering those words, the male’s mouth fell shut, head turning towards the other side. The silence only lingered for a few seconds before the captain waves his hand: “ **L** eave will you.”

The raven gave a nod and walked towards the door, heart sinking with every step he took. Hand resting onto the knob, he glanced back a final time.

“ **R** est well… Doffy.”

The door fell shut and covered the groan of frustration the blond let out.

~0~

“ **I** t was really stupid what I said,” Doflamingo complained as Pica gave a nod, not having spoken once yet since entering the room. Right now, his captain needed to vent and quite frankly, they both knew he was the only Head-Executive that could listen. Diamante and Trébol would surely give remarks or reprimand Vergo.

“ **I** ’m the one who sent him away in the first place. I mean, he’s the only one I can trust to do… Well you know. Yet at the same time he should be here. Get what I mean? Of course not completely but-…”

“ **D** offy,” Pica interrupted: “ **D** o you want to talk with him?”

“ **W** hat? Of course not,” the blond wanted to bang his head against the bed for no reason other than to create some order inside his mind: “ **I** don’t know what I want okay?!”

Pica gave a nod. If anything, he was starting to see what was going on here, yet his captain failed to see it for now so he decided not to mention it.

“ **S** hall I go get Vergo?”

“ **N** o,” Doflamingo huffed and crossed his arms, ignoring the stinging pain.

“ **A** re you going to avoid him then?”

“ **I** ’m lying in a bed. How in the world’s name would I be actively avoiding him?!”

“ **I** understand.”

“ **I** ’m going to rest some more. Wake me when we reach the next island.”

“ **U** nderstood.”

~0~

Sweat dripped down his back as he continued his push-ups, teeth softly biting onto his trembling lower lip.

_He should’ve been there. He should’ve stopped the attack._

Of course he had his mission and that was the very thing that tore him apart. Tore him and Doflamingo apart. It was very important to have a spy amongst the marines and he was honoured to have been chosen for it, yet at the same time he had promised to always be there and support his friend and king. How was he supposed to help him when he was miles away? How had he jumping a rank higher helped Doflamingo to escape the sneak-attack?

It hadn’t.

Vergo felt like he had failed Doflamingo. Failed the family.

It was a horrible feeling, as if someone was constantly slamming down onto his back and shoulders, his ribs breaking under the pressure and his heart squeezed by invisible hands.

What good was a subordinate that couldn’t even fulfil his purpose?

Vergo sighed as he stepped into the shower, the hot water rinsing him, though failed to wash his worries away.


	2. Chapter Two

“ **I** ’ll wreck chaos. Destroy this world hm,” Doflamingo gave a determined nod as he threw a pebble across the lake.

Vergo gave a rare smile: “ **O** f course you will. You’re the man destined to move the Heavens themselves.”

“ **Y** ou should stop talking like that. Reminds me on Trébol,” Doflamingo grinned, walking back towards his friend and sitting down.

“ **H** ey Vergo?”

“ **H** m?”

“ **T** rébol always goes on about wanting to have a dream. What about you? Got a dream?”

Vergo frowned for a bit before he answered: “ **O** f course.”

“ **R** eally? Tell me!”

“ **W** ell… I want to help you. I want to follow you wherever you go and take care of all those in your way! I want to protect you. You’re my boss and I will help you however I can.”

“ **F** ufufu, that sounds so strange,” Doflamingo yawned as he fell onto his back, staring at the sky above them: “ **B** ut it makes me happy. Thanks.”

“ **I** t’s the truth,” Vergo stated dryly.

“ **H** mm… How can you be so certain that you’ll always be there?”

“ **B** ecause I will be there,” Vergo sighed, not understanding why his friend was questioning this: “ **Y** ou’re my leader. I’ll always follow you and obey you. Unless you want me to leave-?”

“ **W** hat?! No!” Doflamingo jolted up again, punching Vergo into his shoulder: “ **D** on’t joke around.”

The raven frowned once more: he wasn’t joking. He wouldn’t joke while being with Doflamingo, that wouldn’t be appropriate.

The blond rested his head onto his shoulder and it felt like the world disappeared. The only thing Vergo heard was Doflamingo’s voice, the only thing he saw was Doflamingo and the only thing he felt, was the warmth of his friend leaning onto him.

“ **Y** ou have to stay with me. Got it? Don’t betray me.”

“ **I** won’t.”

“ **N** ever.”

“ **N** ever.”

~0~

“ **V** ergo-san? Breakfast is served,” Baby 5’s voice could be heard from the hallway, tiny fist knocking on the door. He gave a groan as a sign that she could go now and she quickly caught it. Once she had left Vergo closed his eyes again. He didn’t want to face the family right now. The mission was something between only Doflamingo and him and as such, he would not be able to explain why he had failed to protect Doflamingo.

That was what everyone expected of him, right?

For some reason he was starting to doubt a lot lately. Brushing it aside as just a side-effect of feeling guilty, he dressed himself and ended up heading towards Doflamingo’s room.

A soft knock before he froze, waiting for either permission or refusal. Perhaps he should call out, warning Doflamingo that it was him? Would that give him permission or refusal?

“ **W** hat? I’m not hungry,” a muffled growl.

“ **D** offy…”

“ **O** h… Oh,” Doflamingo’s voice grew with agitation as the blond glared at the door. Realizing how silly and petty that was, he rolled onto his side, immediately cursing himself.

“ **N** ot now.”

“ **I** ne-, I want to talk Doffy.”

Rolling his eye – _he couldn’t stand it when Vergo used **that** tone, that wasn’t fair– _he eventually gave in: “ **O** kay, 5 minutes.”

The door opened with a sharp sound and heavy footsteps made their way to his bed, a hand resting onto his shoulder.

“ **D** o you want to talk Doffy?”

“ **I** guess I can try,” the blond gave a nod, though made no effort to actually face the raven.

“ **D** o you want me to stop the mission?”

“ **O** f course not,” the blond sighed: “ **I** gave you that mission. Are you trying to tell me that _I_ made an error of judgement by deciding we needed a spy?”

“ **N** o.”

“ **G** ood.”

“ **T** hen what was it you want Doffy?” despite feeling guilty, Vergo could not help asking. He had thought about it before falling asleep. Doflamingo wanted him to be there, so there was no fair point in accusing him of not being there when the ambush had taken the place. His guilt was still present, though his confusion was slowly evening it out. The raven felt like he had misread his friend. Or perhaps the blond had something else on his mind.

“ **L** ook just forget it okay?” Doflamingo finally craved a look of the raven so he rolled onto his other side, face scrunching as he did so.

“ **I** know I shouldn’t rely on you all the time. The guy that got me just saw an opening. That’s all… I was just a bit annoyed yesterday and I snapped. Nothing much.”

Good, that should solve this.

Yet when he saw Vergo’s expression – _the raven was actually questioning him–_ he couldn’t help but get a bit nervous.

“ **W** hat?”

“ **T** here’s something else, isn’t there? You never lose your cool.”

“ **W** ell never before did I get this beaten up right,” the blond retorted.

The raven gave a slight nod. And then, ever so sudden, he gave the blond a soft kiss onto his forehead.

“ **W** hat?” Doflamingo frowned in confusion.

“ **I** missed you.”

_He was not blushing._

Of course he wasn’t. He’d never.

Or at least that’s what Doflamingo would tell himself for years.

“ **I** guess I missed you too.”

Vergo gave a small smirk: “ **T** hat’s what you want.”

“ **W** hat?”

“ **N** othing Doffy.”

Doflamingo glared at Vergo: “ **D** on’t assume things about me.”

The man gave a nod back, though the small smirk of amusement did not disappear. He did not always understand why his friend did certain things but he was able to read the blond up to a certain degree.

“ **I** won’t.”

“ **W** hy do I have the feeling you are doing so right now.”

“ **I** ’m sorry I wasn’t there to take care of you after you got hurt.”

“ **T** hat has nothing to do with this!” Doflamingo snapped back, though when those arms held him he _knew_ , oh he _knew_.

He knew from the beginning that he was only angry because he missed the raven.

He always did.


	3. Chapter Three

-Chapter Three-

Recovering wasn’t so bad when Vergo was around, Doflamingo concluded as he sipped from a glass of wine, his friend sitting nearby doing paperwork. For once the blond wasn’t the one writing all kinds of stuff, which gave him the perfect opportunity to tease his friend of course!

What was more fun than running your _extremely_ flexible fingers up someone’s back and chest and watch the corners of their mouth tug according to the taps?

“ **D** offy,” Vergo calmly stated: “ **D** o you need something?”

“No I’m fine,” the blond gave a cheeky grin as he continued sipping the wine, starting to feel a bit tipsy. Placing it down for now, he scooted closer to the raven.

“ **H** ow much longer?”

“ **I** ’ve almost finished,” Vergo replied in his usual calm tone, hands skilfully continuing to fill in the papers.

“ **Y** our handwriting isn’t beautiful.”

Eyebrows slightly raised, Vergo looked back at Doflamingo: “ **N** either is yours.”

“ **W** hat?!” feigning offense, Doflamingo snatched the pen: “ **W** atch this!”

He started writing his own name, curls and swirls all around.

“ **P** lease Doffy, it’s like cake decoration,” re-claiming his pen, he started writing his name. Harsh strokes with straight corners.

“ **Y** our handwriting is boring,” Doflamingo said as he took the pen and added a swirl.

“ **N** ow my name looks like it has a hat,” Vergo sighed as he scratched some swirls.

“ **N** ow my name looks boring,” Doflamingo wanted to take the pen before the raven caught him off-guard again. Holding his hand, he kissed him.

Soft and warm yet short and gone again like a summer breeze.

“ **W** ho cares about the name if _you_ aren’t boring?”

“ **W** ow, so cheesy,” Doflamingo chuckled as he leaned back.

“ **H** ow is the recovery going?”

“ **H** m, okay,” the blond absently tugged a bit at the bandages. It no longer stung to move around and wounds had at least closed up: “ **B** ut it would go faster if you helped me.”

Vergo placed down his pen the moment arms wrapped around him and a nose brushed against his neck. Teeth softly tugged at his earlobes, the warm lips brushing against the outer shell.

“ **D** offy-…”

Fingers trailing up-

“ **Y** oung master!” Baby 5 slammed the door open: “ **Y** oung master! Do you need anything?! Tea? Snacks? More wine?! I can get it for you!”

Obviously missing the intimacy lingering around the two men, Baby 5 stood proudly in the doorway, as if sparkles were gushing off of her.

“ **B** aby 5,” Doflamingo chuckled as he pulled back a bit: “ **N** o we’re okay.”

“ **O** -okay, but if you need me, just call me!”

“ **W** e will,” the blond flashed his teeth and the girl giggled in response before running off again.

“ **Y** ou were saying-?” Vergo smiled, a hint of teasing underneath as he stood up, taking the papers with him.

“ **Y** ou’re an asshole,” Doflamingo huffed as he watched the man walk out on him.

~0~

Because it was the first time since Doflamingo had been injured that he would join the family for dinner, they had all agreed that it had to be a feast. Even more food than normal was placed onto the table as Jora ordered the family members around. It wasn't that they had elected her as leader, however, the dinner room had been a disaster just a half hour ago so the woman had no choice but to act.

" **D** ellinger stop that," after shooting Dellinger a sour look she continued to check if everything was okay.

" **T** here's snot on this chair-," Senor started, though the looming shadow of Trébol made him just wish he was somewhere far away and Jora could swear she heard him mutter 'Russian'. Shrugging, she took the chair and threw it out of the room.

After having dodged a miraculously flying chair, Vergo walked into the room.

" **O** h Vergo!" Machvise greeted him first. Returning the greeting with a polite nod, the raven looked around.

" **Y** ou don't have lobster-pasta?"

" **W** hat-, of course we-..."

" **W** here's Buffalo."

" **D** amnit!" with long strides, Diamante made his way out, setting out to find the culprit behind the disappearance of Doflamingo's favourite dish.

" **W** ell we won't see it back, it's already been digested and there is the G!" Lao G remarked.

" **D** on't worry," Vergo said as he headed into the kitchen: " **I** 'll make it for Doffy."

" **Y** ou're not a cook!" the family members yelled though the man had already disappeared.

" **I** s this bad?"

" **I** t can't be worse than snot in the food," Gladius snarled as he took a dish and threw it away.

~0~

It took only 10 minutes before Doflamingo arrived and sadly enough it also 'only' took Vergo 10 minutes to come back with one of the worst dishes ever.

The blond calmly poked in what was supposed to be lobster pasta: undercooked pasta, strange-colored lobster, lobster-shell, black pepper and huge chunks of salt. Not to mention that the entire plate smelled as if it had been rotting in a dungeon for a few years.

Vergo looked at Doflamingo: " **W** ell?"

The blond let out a nervous chuckle upon hearing the question, quickly looking at anyone to help him, though everyone skilfully avoided his gaze. Damnit.

" **T** hank you Vergo, but you are not a cook."

" **F** air point," the raven shrugged.

" **I** appreciate the effort."

" **I** 'm glad you do."

~0~

After what one could consider a relatively normal dinner with the Donquixote-family, the Executives decided to leave Vergo and Doflamingo behind in favour of their own interests: from going to bed to cleaning all the munition aboard the ship for no good reason.

Fully stuffed, Doflamingo turned his head towards his friend, his full stomach and the warmth making him lazy and carefree.

" **D** o you want some wine Doffy?"

A nod and Vergo stood up, picking one of the best wines that was present in the room. He could go to the storage room and pick an even better one, but he'd rather not leave Doflamingo.

Wriggling around on his bed, Doflamingo stared at the ceiling.

" **H** ey Vergo, when was the last time you were seriously injured? I mean, during your marine training?"

" **H** m," Vergo pondered on the question for a bit before he headed back to his captain, two glasses carefully held by strong hands.

" **I** got injured on one of my first missions: the team wasn't good and we lost communication with each other. At sea, I believe, near the shore of an island."

" **H** ow bad was it?" Doflamingo sat up, curiosity clearly audible.

" **I** got shot in my side," the raven replied: " **A** nd I think my arm got slashed. It wasn't too bad but I couldn't really walk fast and my arm felt dead for a day or two."

" **H** ow was the recovery-, were they worried?"

" **N** ot really, there was a guy who lost his arm. That was much more important. I think they sent him home after he healed as much as he could. His career was pretty much over."

" **I** see."

" **W** hy do you ask Doffy?"

"How do you deal with it, being away from the family?"

The raven hummed. So the conversation was going in that direction again. Swirling the liquid in the glass around, he gave a patient smile: "Well, I'm doing it for you-, and the family of course. I guess when you have a certain objective, the way to reach it doesn't really hurt as much."

Doflamingo chuckled before he kissed Vergo's cheek, heading down to his neckline. Catching the hint, he took Doflamingo's glass as well, immobilizing himself up to a certain point. A tongue darted out and started leaving a trail of saliva as a way to show the invitation was accepted. Carefully, he crawled onto Vergo's lap and seated himself, a pair of long legs slowly moved at each side. Fingers ran through the bowl-cut as he brushed his nose against the other's, a small sign of affection, not as deep as the real feeling but enough to show that he wanted to go further.

Vergo kept a straight expression, slightly turned on whenever Doflamingo playfully moved his centre of gravitation a bit, which could be reflected by the way his Adam’s apple moved.

"What's your objective now," a mesmerizing voice was all the raven could hear as a tie was wrapped around his head, glasses taken away by slender, skilful fingers.

"Serving you. As it always will be."

"In any way necessary?"

"In any way necessary."

~0~

A year later, Vergo returned to a different view. Doflamingo was sitting in a room, huge grin on his face that grew upon spotting his friend.

"Look."

And Vergo looked.

And he saw another blond with strange similarities to his captain. Rocinante, Doflamingo explained. The little brother that had disappeared a few years ago, now back at the side of his older brother just how it should be.

Vergo didn't trust Rocinante, but he did as told and gave him a warm welcome.

Doflamingo spent more time with the blond than with him, the first year, but Vergo didn't complain. Sometimes he tagged along, other times he preferred to stay in his room. Senor teased him for it once but Vergo denied. He wasn't jealous. Jealousy implied he was afraid that someone would steal Doflamingo away and if there was anything he couldn't do, it was claim his king. He was wild and free, a fallen dragon who bared its fangs at the Heavens he once called home. Anyone would know they couldn't claim such a being, you could only admire it from far away.

But Vergo was envious though. Envious of the attention that was now focused on Rocinante, attention that usually had been his when he was able to come back 'home'. Nonetheless, he accepted it.

He had promised to serve, in any way necessary.


	4. Chapter Four

"So how's your little sister?"

Doflamingo leaned back in the couch at the poolside, a huge grin on his face one might even call slightly maniacal.

Vergo gave a smirk back: "Hm... I suppose she's still not better; never will be."

After all those years, the marines still swallowed the lie of his little sister like tea after rice-crackers: then again, there weren't any bright lights in G-5 and they carried Vergo on their hands; they wouldn't dare to pry into his private life.

"Doffy, I think it would be better if I hitched a hike to Punk Hazard."

"What? Still worried about Law being there? Monet can handle it."

"Hm perhaps, but I don't trust Caesar either. I think it might be better if I go take a look: if anything, I can help Monet a bit."

Doflamingo gave a nod: a quick check-up wouldn't hurt and he wasn't able to go, due to his duties as the king of Dressrosa. Not to mention that the marines were keeping an eye on him more than ever: he'd rather not have to wipe out another marine-squad should they discover Punk Hazard had become another base of his.

"Be careful."

"I will. I'll get you a souvenir."

"There's nothing left on Punk Hazard," Doflamingo remarked: "And I don't want any of Caesar's strange flasks."

"Oh right..."

"Fufufu~, Vergo, I-," the blond paused and shook his head: "Don't make me wait."

"Of course."

~0~

"You did great, up 'till now," Doflamingo's voice was a mere whisper in comparison to the chunks of building that were falling down all around. But Vergo could hear him loud and clearly, as he always had. A huge smile appeared on his face. Those words were perhaps not the highest of praise he had received, but they came from the man he praised the most.

"Fufufu, even though I told you not to leave me waiting... I suppose I'll have to wait after all..."

The sadness tugging at his heart failed to remove the smile as Vergo listened. He didn't speak, didn't answer, he didn't have to.

"Vergo... I love you."

Poison gas flooded inside the building, as Vergo felt the ground underneath his separated body crumble away.

He didn't answer.

He didn't have to.

Doflamingo knew, Doflamingo had always known that he loved him. His death didn't matter.

He would serve.

In any way necessary.


End file.
